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The Stone's Lament was a military combat unit formed in the fires of Kittery's Resistance group in 3073.[1] Members of the resistance force which were allied was lead by Devlin Stone breaking out of Word of Blake re-education camp RBMU 105. Survivors of the resistance group, formed Stone's Lament, with Belle Lee as its commander.[1]

The Stone's Lament pride themselves in having fought in the hardest and bloodiest battles in all wars waged by Devlin Stone.

Stone's Lament were directly involved in the battle for Ascella in December 3075. Forces from Clan Ghost Bear had already tried to liberate Ascella once and been thwarted by Word of BlakePocket WarShips, which had destroyed half of the Ghost Bear DropShips as they burned towards the planet. Shortly after this, Devlin Stone and a small diplomatic party negotiated with the Ghost Bears, gaining their support for the coalition; the Ghost Bears in turn sent a party into the Outworlds Alliance to negotiate for support for the coalition from Clan Snow Raven. When the Snow Ravens agreed a second Ghost Bear task force struck at Ascella, this time with support from Snow Raven assets. This second strike hit Ascella at roughly the same time as an allied coalition force led by Stone and which included Stone's Lament. While the Ghost Bears fought a bitter two-week campaign against the Word of Blake Militia over the planetary spaceport and industrial complexes in the face of continued scorched earth tactics, Stone's Lament managed to capture both the planetary HPG compound and capital in just a week.[5][6]

In November the Lament was on Yorii when they came across several former Clan Smoke Jaguar warriors. These warriors were quickly relocated off-world.[7]

After the various battles to liberate Chara Major Nancy Smith of Stone's Lament reported that her battalion had at one point been assisted in breaking through the Blakist forces by HauptmannCassandra Lightfoot of the 25th Arcturan Guards and her company; despite having been dismissed by Major Smith as a Social General in the making with little grasp of tactics, Hauptman Lightfoot evidently used her company with considerable skill to breach the Blakist line and give the Lament a large hole to exploit.[8]

In November the Lament and Stone's Stalwarts landed on Hall. There they were planning to assault when Private Bethany Barret contacted the Word of Blake commander and persuaded him to surrender.[9]

In 3078 the Lament was expanded to incorporate a fourth battalion, and Devlin Stone personally promoted Bethany Barrett, then considered something of a hero, to command the battalion. This attracted a degree of criticism from Belle Lee, who apparently displayed a degree of personal dislike for Barrett, something supporters of Barrett portrayed as anything from petty jealousy to the stereotypical disdain MechWarriors held for most infantry personnel. Local press within the Duchy of Oriente presented Barrett's promotion as a reward for her actions during Operation SCOUR, which not only included securing the surrender of Hall with minimal bloodshed but also leading her infantry unit as they prevented an assassination attempt on Stone's life by Manei Domini agents. The popular support for Barrett and her promotion was at least partly influenced by Barrett's personal history, which recorded her as having been born on Loeches but raised on Oriente.[10]

The Lament was used in the Eastern Task Force on Terra. This group faced some of the most determined Blakist resistance as it assaulted Hilton Head. After a brief fight, they withdrew.[13] Eventually enough resources were diverted to take Hilton Head compound, and the task force moved west, into the North American continent. The Lament faced the forces that Precentor MartialCameron St. Jamais had gathered outside Devil's Tower. Devlin Stone and St. Jamais fought a duel, and Stone killed the Blakist. After that the remaining defenders began to surrender.[14]

All members of Stone's Lament have a unit-tattoo on their biceps. Stone's Lament is such a legendary unit, that sometimes fakers show up, presenting such a tattoo and claiming being a former member. If real members of Stone's Lament stumble upon such a faker, they personally remove the fake tattoo via laser surgery – with a laser-pistol.[23]

When commanded by Devlin Stone or Belle Lee, the Lament gains the Banking Initiative special ability and a +2 Initiative bonus when either is present on the battlefield. When rolling on Random Assignment Tables, the controlling player may add a +1 bonus when determining lance weight. Furthermore, for every four units played, the controlling player may roll one unit on any House RAT.[3]